Another week has passed and two more prominent South Africans have been accused of faking their academic credentials. This time, however, the ignominy is particularly cringe-worthy: our ambassador in Washington, Mninwa Mahlangu, and his counterpart in Tokyo, Mohau Pheko, have reportedly been caught out for doctoring their CVs. That they remain in their posts is…

Poor Ellen Tshabalala and her BCom (Unisa) DipLabRel (Unisa). No one wants to believe that the dog ate her homework. Last week Parliament’s communication portfolio committee recommended, for the second time, that Tshabalala be suspended “with immediate effect” from her position as chair of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board because she had lied…

Pallo Jordan’s political self-immolation is tragic. To lose him from Parliament and the ANC’s influential national executive committee, following his exposure by the Sunday Times as lying about his academic qualifications, is a blow for the country. The conventions of political honour – an oxymoron if there ever was one – demand an abject apology…

On Monday night, the inevitable happened. Pallo Jordan resigned from Parliament. Although he attempted to simultaneously resign from the ANC, and its NEC, it is not clear whether his decision was accepted by the party itself. After a week of sustained pressure, during which Jordan’s eerie silence and period of hiding sent out a clear…

Clarity of thought and articulate intellectual leadership is neither a product of holding a PhD nor the result of spending years to acquire one-dimensional professionalised knowledge to be an expert or a guru. Rather, it comes from a deep-seated passion and love for what America’s leading thinker Cornel West defined as the “life of the…

A widely touted election scenario is that the African National Congress sees its majority slashed. Waking from its walk on the dark side, the party attributes the erosion of voter trust to President Jacob Zuma’s failings and ousts him as leader. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa takes the reins and South Africa sighs with relief. It’s…

By Thapelo Tselapedi It is interesting to note that SACP secretary-general Blade Nzimande, in contrast to Kgalema Motlanthe, has spoken rather favourably about the concept of a second transition. In an interview with Mandy Rossouw from City Press, Nzimande made the ‘revelation’ that “the deepening of our democracy cannot be taken any further if we…